Two men were still being questioned by RUC detectives last night following the discovery of a pipe bomb in Dungannon, Co Tyrone, on Tuesday evening. One of the men is believed to be a fundamentalist Protestant preacher and a senior member of the dissident loyalist paramilitary group, the Red Hand Defenders.
Both men come from Belfast and were detained when officers intercepted a car near the home of the Ulster Unionist MP, Mr Ken Maginnis, close to Dungannon rugby club. They are being held at Gough Barracks, Armagh.
The device exploded as British army bomb disposal experts attempted to defuse it. Two hand grenades were also recovered in the vehicle. A dozen families had to be evacuated from houses in the area during Tuesday night's security operation, which was seen by local politicians as another significant blow against loyalist dissidents.
The arrests followed the discovery of a number of weapons, including a Russian-made RPG rocket launcher, belonging to the "Real" IRA in the Republic.